Acetylene-gas generator



No. 6l|,483. Patented'Sept. 27, I898.

a. L. HOGAN.

ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

(Application filed Apr. 13, 1898.).

(No Model.)

l/VVE/VTOH George I Jbym.

ATTORNEYS.

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GEORGE LEWIS HOGAN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

AC ETYLEN E-cAs GAEN ERA-ton.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,483, dated September 27, 1898.

Application filed April 13, 1898.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE LEWIS HOGAN, of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Acetylene-Gas Generators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to acetylene-gas generators of that automatic type in which an external tank holding water is combined with an inverted bell or buoyant gasometer dipping down into the water at its lower edge and containing a basket for the calcium carbid and in which when the water comes in contact with the calcium carbid the gas is generated and ismade to lift the gasometer and take the calcium carbid out of contact with the water and stop the generation until the generated gas is drawn off or consumed.

My invention is in the nature of a special construction and arrangement of parts oper ating upon this principle which is designed more especially for use as a street-lamp, but which may be used for any other form of lamp or be constructed on a large scale for a generating plant; and it consists in the novel features of construction hereinafter shown and described.

Figure 1 is a vertical central section of the device, and Fig. 2 is a detail view of a tool used in the manipulation of the lamp.

In the drawings, A represents a cylindrical upright tank for thewater, and B is the inverted bell or gasometer fitting within the same loosely, so as to rise and fall freely with the automatic generation of the gas. The cylindrical tank A is made nearly twice the height of the gasometer B, so that when the latter is at its highest position it does not project above the tank A and is not exposed to the lateral pressure of the wind, which would cause it to cramp and bind and interfere with the free and sensitive motion. This vertical extension serves also to guide the gasometer in its rise andfall. To prevent the entrance of rain or snow, the tank A has a suitable cover A, and for ornamental effect a crest or cornice W is slipped over the upper end and retained in position by a bead in the side walls of the tank.

Fixed to the lower end of the tank A there is a circular metal ring R, projecting down- Seri'al No. 677,442. (No model.)

wardly and provided with set-screws r to retain a pendent glass globe S, in which the burners are .contained.

Y is'the lamp-post, on the end of which is firmly secured by screw-threads or otherwise a cap or sleeve M, to which is firmly connectd burners N in the globe.

To the upper end of the central coupling L there is rigidly fixed a stand-pipe D,closed at its upper end, but having near said upper end one or more lateral holes d.

C is the basket for the calcium carbid. This is fixed to a central pipe E, which is open both at its upper and lower end. This pipe surrounds the stand-pipe D and moves up and down thereon as a guide, and at the upper end said pipe E is provided with a bail it, that is adapted to be detachably hooked over a hook K on the inner side of the center of the top of the gasometer B. In the bottom of the tank A there is a removable pan F, which is designed as a receiver for the ash or sediment from the calcium carbid. This pan has a hole through the center, with a standing flange around it, through which hole the stand-pipe D passes and into which also dips the pipe E of the basket, and said pan also has a standing fiange at its outer edge whose top is turned inwardly at f;

In the top of the gasometer there is firmly fixed in any suitable way a small pipe t. This extends down into the gasometer and opens at a point near the bottom of the same and also extends above the gasometer and also through a hole in the top of thetank A and slides freely through a fixed guide '0, which is provided with a set-screw 'vfor the pur-.

pose hereinafter described.

U is a weather-guard and reflector for globe.

This guard is ring-shaped, with a hole in the center large enough to slip over the top of tank A before crest W is put on, and when slipped down to place it rests upon lugs or projections e c. This guard is made hollow with an inclined conical roof, and its lower surface is designed to be gilded, polished, or painted white to form a reflector.

The operation of my generator is as follows: To charge the generator, the top A, with guide 0), is removed and the gasometer lifted out by a ring Z. The basket 0 is then lifted off the hook K, using the lower part of the pipeE as a handle to lift it by. The basket O is then filled with calcium carbid and inserted in the gasometer and hung upon the hook K by means of bail h. Water is then poured into the tank A up to a predetermined level and the gasometer then let down into the tank, with the pipe E inclosing the standpipe D and sliding telescopically over the same. When the water comes in contact with the calcium carbid, the acetylene gas is generated, and this fills the gasometer, raising it, and at the same time the gas passes down the open end of tube E and through the hole d into the stand-pipe D and down pipe P to the burners N in the globe. When a larger quantity is generated than is being consumed, it raises the gasometer until the basket, with calcium carbid, is out of contact with the water, and the generation of gas then is diminished and finally ceases altogether unless the gas in the top of the gasometer is drawn off or used. As the gas will continue to be generated for a little while after the calcium carbid passes out of contact with the water, I provide a means for preventing the gasometer from being raised to an undue height, and for this purpose the tube 1. comes into play as a safety-discharge, for whenever the gasometer reaches the highest point allowed it, which is just before its lower edge reaches the surface of the water, then the lower end of tube 25 will be uncovered by rising above the water and a quantity of the acetylene gas will pass into the lower end of this tube and out into the air at its upper end, and thus the gasometer will be brought down again or prevented from rising too high.

This apparatus, it will be seen, is automatic, for as long as the gas is being burned or drawn off so long will it continue to be generated, and when it is turned off or not consumed then it ceases to be generated. When the lamp is not in use, there will ordinarily be a pressure in the gas within the gasometer, which will allow a slight seepage of gas to take place through microscopic openings due to flaws in the metal or joints or the pores of the metal. This involves a loss, and to prevent it the tube 15 serves another purpose than a safety-discharge, for by turning the set-screw o tightly to lock the tube 75 in guide '0 the gasometer is held suspended, and its weight being taken off the imprisoned gas the latter is relieved of pressure and incidental loss.

WVhen a charge of calcium carbid has been spent, there will accumulate a certain amount of ash or sediment in the annular pan F. This is removed when the gasometer is out of the tank by a special tool X. (Shown in Fig. 2.) This consists of tongs composed of three spring-legs having bent ends, which normally spring apart at the bent ends. These legs are forced together and inserted into the tank A until below the flange f of the pan F, and when released they expand and, catching under the flange f, afford a means for lifting the pan from the bottom of the comparatively deep tank A.

In first charging the generator care must be taken to immediately draw off the imprisoned air from the gasometer as the generation of gas commences, so as to avoid an explosive mixture that might otherwise result.

As the gas is generated it passes down the tube P and is burned at the burners N, and the heat from the same superheats the gas as it passes down the tube P and contributes to the activity of the combustion and the vivid character of the light.

The heated air and products of combustion passout the holes J in the ring R and sufficient fresh air to support combustion will pass in at the loose joint at the upper edge of the globe; but if found desirable an inlet for air may be formed in the bottom of the globe in a well-known way.

The object in closing the top end of standpipe D and making one or more outlet-holes d in the side is to avoid water accident-ally passing down pipe D and fouling the burners when filling the tank A with water.

If desired, this lamp may be suspended, and for this purpose the frame L L L is dispensed with and holes T are formed on the upper edge of the tank to receive the suspending-chains.

I am aware that it is not new in acetylene generators to combine a Water-tank having central stand-pipe with a floating gasometer containing a basket with a central pipe surrounding the stand-pipe of the water-tank, and I make no broad claim to this.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of a water-tank, and a floating gasometer; of a pipe extending vertically through the top of the gasometer and opening into the same near the bottom, and extending also above the same, a guide for said upward extension, and a device for locking said pipe rigidly in said guide when desired substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of a water-tank having a vertical stationary and central gasdischarge pipe opening through the bottom of the same, and a rising-and-falling gasometer, provided with a basket for calcium carbid; and a downwardlyprojecting pipe attached thereto and telescoping over the stationary discharge-pipe, an

ash-pan wholly disconnected from the gasing the downwardly-projecting pipe of the ometer and having a hole through its middle basket substantially as shown and described.

with a standing fian e around the same and also around its outer edge, said pan being de- GEORGE LEWIS HOGAN 5 tachably arranged in the bottom of the Water- Witnesses:

tank and around the central discharge-pipe J AS. W. WALKER, J r.,

and arranged to receive in its central open- W. D. STIMSON. 

